Conor McCarthy is focusing only on playing for St Mirren while an offer of a new contract is discussed in the background.

The 23-year-old defender, signed from Cork City in January 2020, was subject to reported interest from Rotherham in the summer.

McCarthy has not played as much as he would have liked this season but while his representatives and the Paisley club remain in talks over an extended deal, he will look to hold down a first-team spot.

Ahead of the trip to Hibernian in the cinch Premiership on Saturday, the Irishman said: “My representatives have been in talks with the club for the last couple of months.

“I kind of leave that to them and won’t focus on that too much, I just want to play my football.

“There has been an offer in place for the last couple of months but you know what it is like, these things don’t get done overnight it takes a while to get everything ironed out.

“Of course (I could sign again), I love it here. I love it at the club.

“The manager and staff have been really good to me since I have come here but I will leave that to my representatives to discuss.”

McCarthy, who has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-18 and under-21 level, insists he was not affected by the transfer speculation surrounding him.

He said: “No, not at all. I put it to one side. I didn’t think much of it.

“It happens almost every transfer window where bids come in and get rejected.

“It never got to the stage where it was really, really close, it came in, didn’t meet the valuation and we moved on.

“The interest was flattering at the time. The window is closed now so my full focus is on St Mirren.”

Saints are still looking for their first win of the season but McCarthy remains confident that the Buddies will get it right.

He said: “For us as a team it has been up and down.

“We have not performed to a level we would have liked to so far and personally it has been up and down.

“We have probably conceded more goals than last season and at the top end of the pitch we are probably not firing.